Updates: Car hits pole west of Westwood Village, 1 to hospital

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(Photo added 9:54 pm)
ORIGINAL 9:45 PM REPORT: A crash described as car vs. pole — “heavy rescue” on the 911 log – is closing Barton at 30th (just west of Westwood Village – here’s a map), all lanes according to the scanner. The collision has cut power to part of the area, also per the scanner. 9:54 PM UPDATE: Just added a cameraphone photo. Fire/rescue crews are trying to get into the vehicle by cutting its top off – it’s on its side against the pole – we don’t know how many people are inside or what condition they are in. 10:08 PM UPDATE: Commenter Conrad has a different line of sight than our crew and says they’ve gotten the driver into an ambulance. 10:21 PM UPDATE: Our crew confirms one man’s been taken to the hospital; since it was by ambulance rather than SFD medic unit, that usually indicates injuries were not life-threatening. Power’s still out around the intersection. Seattle City Light has arrived. 10:38 PM UPDATE: Barton is partly reopened (and should be fully reopened shortly); the power’s back on; the wreckage will be cleared before long.

11:04 PM UPDATE: Lt. Ron Smith at the Southwest Precinct tells us the driver has a minor injury and that investigators are looking into the possibility of DUI, though, he confirms, the driver did indeed tell police (as Conrad reported in comments) he had swerved to avoid a dog.

wow October 10, 2009 (9:50 pm)

must be huge. I am on Thistle and all I can hear is sirens for 10 mins straight.

Conrad October 10, 2009 (10:03 pm)

First two guys on the scene said they talked to the driver and they said he was conscious and had swerved to avoid a dog. Power is out from at least Trenton to Roxbury on that block. They cut the roof off and just got him in the ambulance a few minutes ago.

WSB October 10, 2009 (10:07 pm)

thanks – you must have a different line of sight, our crew lost view when the ambulance came in but was moving position (still at a distance to stay out of the way) …

Conrad October 10, 2009 (10:25 pm)

Just saw them finish transferring the guy from a Seattle Fire Department ambulance to an American Medical Response ambulance at 35th & Barton so I guess that means any injuries are non life threatening? I was the guy with the dog at the ne corner of 30th & Barton. I imagine better pictures are coming soon as there was a guy (yours I think) who showed up very quickly with professional gear.

Conrad October 10, 2009 (11:13 pm)

Maybe the suspected DUI was why a police car was tailing the ambulance. I wondered about that.

Mike F October 10, 2009 (11:53 pm)

How fast must he have been going to lose control and take out a power pole just to avoid a dog? May I implore folks driving in West Seattle to remember most of its streets are residential? And yes, even though Barton is an arterial, it’s all single-family homes between 35th and the mall.

Alex Kaye October 11, 2009 (12:13 pm)

My friend Mike Jeffries and I were first on the scene and when we arrived the car was on its side still running and the power had been knocked out. My friend Mike talked to the man trapped in the car and he was concious and fully aware of what had happened and where he was. He had swerved to avoid a collison with a dog throwing the car into the curb proceeding to flip the car. The man had to borrow a knife to cut himself out of the seatbelt. Shortly after a bunch of Fire engines, Ambulances and Police cruisers arrived and then they used the jaws or life to cut the entire roof off the car. And to defend the driver Mike F it dosn’t take much to flip a subaru because they are top heavy and he didnt flip because of the speed he was going he flipped becaause the combination of drastic turning/stopping and also hitting the curb.

Sorry, comment time is over.